Kezar Life Sciences, Everest Medicines Agrees to Develop and Commercialize Zetomipzomib

Kezar Life Sciences, Inc, a clinical-stage biotechnology company discovering and developing breakthrough treatments for immune mediated and oncologic disorders, announced that it entered into a collaboration and license agreement with Everest Medicines, a biopharmaceutical company focused on development, manufacturing and commercialization of innovative medicines and vaccines to develop and commercialize zetomipzomib, Kezar’s novel, first-in-class selective immunoproteasome inhibitor in Greater China, South Korea and Southeast Asia.

Under the terms of the agreement, Kezar will receive an initial upfront payment, as well as future payments upon achievement of development, regulatory and commercialization milestones, for a potential total of up to $132.5 million. Everest Medicines will also pay tiered royalties on net sales. Everest Medicines will have exclusive rights to develop and commercialize zetomipzomib in Greater China, South Korea, Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, Indonesia, Vietnam and the Philippines.

Everest Medicines will join Kezar on PALIZADE, a global, placebo-controlled Phase 2b clinical trial evaluating zetomipzomib in patients with active lupus nephritis (LN), in Greater China, South Korea and Southeast Asia. “This partnership with Everest Medicines is an important milestone in the development of zetomipzomib,” said John Fowler, co-founder and CEO of Kezar. “Everest stood out as an ideal regional partner due to its strong nephrology focus and outstanding team with deep global pharma experience. It is clear that they understand zetomipzomib’s broad potential and that their team will integrate seamlessly with ours to help drive enrollment in PALIZADE, our global lupus nephritis trial. It’s well-known that prevalence rates for many autoimmune diseases, including LN and SLE, are higher in Asia, and we are happy that even more patients in need will potentially get access to zetomipzomib as a result of this partnership.”